Mr ELG

Spellbound

Posted on by Eatlovego

I really am loving my kindle and now that my lighted cover has arrived, it means that when MM has me awake at 2am in the morning and my eyes are no longer sleepy and ready for slumber; I can switch on my little light, turn on the kindle and read without bothering Mr ELG.

My latest read literally had me spellbound. Not for the faint-hearted at close to 800 pages, The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is a combination of Harry Potter, Twilight and Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula. So with those books in mind, I confirm Vampires, Witches, Daemons and us run-of-the-mill humans play the starring roles. Like the books above and Elizabeth Kostova’s book The Historian, it again poses the question – do these creatures walk among us and if so; do they work, where do they live and what are the rules?

The story is told through the eyes of Diana Bishop, a History professor at Oxford and through her work comes across an ancient manuscript. After reading this manuscript; life as she knows it (a witch in denial of her own powers) changes dramatically as a Pandora box is opened as others fight to find and acquire this priceless item before anyone else can. The book moves through England, France and upstate New York as the author demonstrates her thorough research into these topics and winds you up in her work of fiction.

I finished this book in just under 72 hours, as it quickly became a page turner and although my sleepless in Sydney behaviour gave me a rude shock when I discovered yet again that sleep deprivation and a 10 month old do not mix; it was another book that had completely swept me away as I re-read certain parts and researched other titles Harkness had penned. The Discovery of Witches is the first book in the All Souls trilogy with the second due to be released this July. I also found out that Warner Bros have secured the rights to the screenplay so to finish off I leave you with my casting thoughts that Hugh Jackman would be brilliant as Matthew de Clermont and Natalie Portman would make a great Diana. 

Now I’m always told sleep when they sleep so this 4pm siesta isn’t looking too bad….. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

The Post with the most!

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It’s rare for me to write a post that ticks all 3 boxes but here’s a wrap up of yesterday…

EAT – to start with…oven baked sourdough and prosecco, moving onto fresh, clean tastes in salads such as  yummy Insalata Caprese with ripe red thickly cut tomatoes and creamy mozzarella slices, tuna nicoise salad with poached eggs, bresaola with rocket and shaved pecorino, cucumber ribbon, pine nuts and ricotta and warm stuffed eggplant. Pasta was next with a bolognese penne and a seared tuna and parsley orecchiette before mains arrived of seared swordfish with tomatoes, capers and extra virgin olive oil and crispy pork belly accompanied by lemon wedges and rocket. Dessert could not be forgotten and for Mr ELG and I, this was arguably our highlight….Eton mess with dollops of cream, fresh vanilla bean and plump sweet strawberries followed by a selection of cheese; both creamy and hard with pear and crackers. A cappuccino finished me off!

LOVE – family on hand to look after MM (BIT’s new codename aka Mini Mister), sharing a table with 14 closest and dearest pals over a long Sunday summer lunch where conversation flowed, laughter was bursting at the seams, yummy food was there to be divulged and life couldn’t be sweeter.

GO – Cafe Sopra above Fratelli Fresh on Danks Street, Waterloo Sydney. The private room where the Italian feast never stops.

Crunchy eating

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Day 4 on detox and I realized today at lunch that there really is a lot of crunchy texture when eating foods on the “food you can eat” list. As there certainly is nothing one can describe as “creamy” although I am still dreaming of golden gaytimes and now creamy rice pudding has entered the dream!

Out and about on King Street in Newtown, 12.30pm had just passed and boy was I feeling ravenous. With oily chicken and kebab shops surrounding me, I wondered what else could satisfy my detox requirements and feel like a treat? Aaahhh, but of course – Vietnamese!!!

Rice Paper, on the Southern end of King Street closer to Sydney university opened nearly 6 months ago after the chef/owner had years of success in Strathfield. And I am now onto my second hand when counting how many times I have been since its arrival! It doesn’t help that it’s only a ten minute walk away from home but in a way, that’s also a comforting thought to know that damn good Pho and young Coconut drink is only ten minutes away! So today when I went in, knowing that today Pho was temporarily blacklisted, I ordered a Green Papaya salad.

As it was laid in front of me, I was immediately hit by the fragrance of the dressing. There was the scent of sweet lime, pungent fish sauce and notes of lemongrass. What a delicious treat!! As I took my first mouthful and crunched through the freshly grated granny smith apple, chopped peanuts and shredded carrot and slurped up the long strands of green papaya, a little part of detox-me was in seventh heaven.

Rice Paper as a restaurant ticks all the boxes for me. Clean, close, friendly service, reasonable prices and most of all, some of the best pho I have ever eaten. The bowl is big, steaming hot with broth that is rich and desirable in flavour. When I first took Mr ELG there, I remember his wide eyes after his first spoonful of Pho asking me why it took me so long to bring him here?!

3 days left of this crunchy eating…can’t wait for the cream!

Rice Paper @ 131 King Street Newtown NSW 2042

Time for tea and no oranges

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After 2 weeks of solid eating and no holding back for another golden gaytime, extra dollop of custard or another piece of cheese; it’s now time for tea and no oranges. In other words; I am on a detox. I have chosen the Quick Cleanse 7 day version and Mr ELG and I are on day 2. So far so good and no major headaches or withdrawals. To put it simply, it’s unlimited fruit and vegetables with oranges omitted, no coffee or caffeine-related drinks, no meat or chicken, lots of water and raw nuts, fish every second day, unlimited tofu and lentils and vitamins three times a day. Yes, I could do this without buying into the program, but at this time of year structure is welcome to get the body back into gear.

So last night in front of the telly when all I could think about was Lindt passion-fruit intense chocolate, I begrudgingly went and made myself a herbal tea. My only saving grace for the next 5 days.

Since having BIT, I have never consumed so much tea as I do now. I don’t know what changed as I still drink coffee (when not on detox) but suddenly herbal tea is no longer reserved for librarians and old ladies. I do have a preference for chamomile, peppermint and ginger and am still not swayed by the berry blends. When I was breastfeeding, a friend recommended the Weleda nursing tea and who knew if it was actually contributing to the supply, but I found it to be a supremely calming ritual at the time much to Mr ELG’s dislike who used to always comment the house smelt like Chinese medicine.

I took this photo of tea being brewed at Revolver Cafe in Annandale. A friend ordered peppermint tea and I love the way so much effort is put into one cup of tea complete with its own minute timer too.

And yesterday amongst all of the tempting madness in a shopping centre where I looked one way to see hot churros rolled in cinnamon or the other way to see chocolate ice-cream; I was a very good girl and took myself off to T2 to order a takeaway herbal tea. It was an iced Turkish Apple and Rose tea – all pretty with the rosebuds floating on top. And if I just closed my eyes, it tasted just like a golden gaytime! Don’t worry, I know I’m dreaming!

Revolver Cafe @ 291 Annandale Street, Annandale NSW 2038

New year, new loves!

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8 days into the new year and I have a few new loves to share with you.

One of Mr ELG’s Christmas presents this year was the same as every other year that I’ve known him…brand new shirts. This year I bought him an orange and white striped one. With its crisp cotton and the sun kissed look he has from our week at the beach, the look is somewhere between the Amalfi and Lake Como; sophisticated, summer, Sydney. LOVE

BIT needs a new name as I looked at him today and thought “when did my baby grow up?!” Nearly 9 months, he is raring to go and as cheeky as they come. Like a lot of other mums cruising the cityscape; what was once retail therapy for me has quickly become scouting for him in as it excites me to find the latest toys to stimulate and entice him. However despite all the fandangle with wooden versus Fisher Price plastic, walkers versus bouncies, trend after trend after trend; I love that one thing has remained constant throughout the generations and that’s of the simple nursery rhyme. Singing to BIT about incy wincy spider’s wall antics or reciting about the piggys’ adventures while squeezing his little toes one by one has him amused longer than any of his wooden ring towers or colored cotton reels. Humpty Dumpty’s fall, the description of a round old teapot and singing about bus parts when he’s squirming on the nappy change table has an immediate calming effect. So this Christmas for BIT, I bought him a little book of nursery rhymes with all the classic ones included. Albeit it’s not your average golden book but a quirky material book with handles and moving parts and hopefully likes its nursery rhymes will too be passed down a few more generations!

Since meeting Mr ELG, we have been collecting blue and white Cornishware. We try and source the original English TG Green stuff and where failing, have picked up some of the newer pieces too. As we travel and explore; whenever we come across an antique store, Vinnies or bric-and-brac market, my eyes scan the place for the blue and white stripes.  In Tassie while we were honeymooning we found a gorgeous teapot and in Arrowtown, just outside of Queenstown, NZ we found a mixing bowl. For a birthday, one of my gorgeous girlfriends sourced some original egg cups for me so the collection is coming along nicely and growing steadily as we go places. On my kitchen bench, I have a couple of pieces out…a bowl storing grapes and another storing parsley, dill and coriander. I love the country feel it gives the home and the memories they stir whenever I gaze in their direction. LOVE

I’ve just returned from a week away up the coast and “away” time at this time of year means one thing; reading a good book or two if you’re lucky. Henry Porter is the author and A Dying Light is its title and it’s a fabulous read full of suspense, quick page turning and left me thinking afterwards. LOVE

And finally while up at the coast, I took my first swim in the ocean. Lost in my own moment, I love a new year as it stirs something fresh, gives me renewed hope and the thought of clean beginnings. Happy new year everyone!

Meanwhile I’ll keep thinking of a new nickname for BIT…suggestions?

The letter F

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I am seeing the letter F a lot these days and sounding it out as I go through the alphabet with my son. F is for fish. F is for flamingo. F is for fox. F is for frog. F is for Felix (BIT). And this morning F is for French toast, frangelico and fairy floss.

I love my French toast buttery, crisp on the outside and gooey and eggy on the inside. I usually use brioche but today I used leftover pannettone. I also had leftover fairy floss in the fridge; green pistachio fairy floss. It has a fine texture with a delicate nutty flavour and looks like it should be decoration for a fairy wonderland instead of an ingredient.

The result was Mr ELG saying it was the best ever French toast so I will share this magnificent recipe with you just in case you also have these leftovers in your pantry post silly season:

Frangelico French toast with fairy floss

Ingredients:

8 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 cup pure cream

Juice of one orange

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground nutmeg

60ml Frangelico

Zest of one lemon

8 slices of thickly cut panettone

100g Pariya Pashmak pistachio fairy floss

50g butter

Raspberry sauce, strawberries and maple syrup to serve

Whisk all ingredients together and dunk slices in custard mixture until bread is soaked through. Heat 20g butter in pan and cook slices until golden brown each side. Keep cooked French toast warm in oven until ready to serve.

Plate up two slices each, sprinkle with raspberry , strawberries and maple syrup. Finish with fairy floss scattered over the top and serve immediately. Serve with crispy bacon if desired!

Serves 4

Enjoy licking the plate!!

the kindle, the key and Paris in a different light

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I recently completed The Travel List Challenge and out of the 100 places to go before you die, I discovered I’ve already been to 27 of them. Ok, I thought – over a quarter of the way there in my 31 years of life.

A while ago now, Mr ELG and I did the Great Ocean Road in Victoria and after the memorable turns and twists of the road, we ended up at Port Fairy for the night in this gorgeous stay called Oscar’s. Bushes of lavender greeted us along the path to reception and I vividly remember the dark paneled flooring leading out to the verandah where we took breakfast the next morning which overlooked the inlet with all of its boats bobbing up and down. Over eggs and OJ, I recall having a conversation with a fellow traveler about how I could definitely come back here again to which he replied “Oh no, there are too many places to see in the world to visit them twice.”

Years later and with my new gadget in hand ~ the kindle; I am completely immersed in the book Sarah’s Key. Set mainly in Paris covering two time periods, I read about the streets of the Marais and the secrets of all the buildings. I read about Sarah and her horrific struggles during 1942 and grow fond of the character, Julia who is living a completely different life in 2004. Reading about Paris, I think of the many times I have been to the city and will continue to go back. Not using the traveler’s ethos, I have been to Paris 4 or 5 times and it was only last month that we were back there again taking BIT there for the first time. We rented out an apartment in the heart of the Marais on Rue Rambuteau giving the stroller a good run for its money as its wheels ran over and over the uneven cobblestone ground on a daily basis. Mr ELG and I love to explore the city’s arrondissements and get lost and found again and again.
Yet it was reading my new book, back home in Sydney that from afar I was seeing the city of lights in a completely different shade. Gone was the excitement and fondness I feel when I think of Paris and instead I felt sick to my stomach whilst reading a fiction piece that referenced a real-life event that took place in Paris in July, 1942. In all of my education, I had never heard or learnt of the events known as the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup and when I asked Mr ELG if he knew about it, he said it rang a bell but he could offer no further detail. Admittedly, I have never been a WWII history buff but in the way this book was describing the numbers of people taken by the French on both 16 and 17 of July, 1942 I was in disbelief and felt ashamed of my ignorance that I had no knowledge of this topic and had to learn about it from Wikipedia instead. I finished the book in a weekend and now 10 days later, it is still on my mind. And I know that when I next go to Paris and walk through the streets of the Marais, I will stop to think about the 13, 152 people taken those mornings and feel grateful to have no such worries in life as those people did during those crazy years in our history.

 

 

with Bill and honeycomb butter in mind…

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Yesterday I read an article on Bill Granger’s Sydney. In the SMH he spoke about heading to Single Origin Roasters in Surry Hills for a caffeine hit and frequently visiting both Shimbashi Soba in Neutral Bay and the inner city Longrain as he quipped that no place does better Asian food than Sydney, out of Asia. Waking up this morning I was thinking about what defines my Sydney and its characteristics (more to come on that later) and then my mind switched suddenly to thinking about honeycomb butter!

Last NYE, I was house-sitting my sister’s home and while flicking through her big collection of recipe books, I recall coming across a recipe for buttermilk pancakes with honeycomb butter. Weaving it into my menu for NY day, I have never before seen pancakes eaten so quickly before serving up these ones. Cooking for 12 house-guests who had been patiently waiting and slowly starving as I set about cooking in someone else’s kitchen; I heard them all chit chatting about fireworks, good sleeps out of the city and holiday to-do lists. As I served up the pancakes, baked sausages, fried eggs and crispy bacon; they later commented that it was the honeycomb butter that MADE the breakfast. Fast-forward to today and I just knew I had to eat some! I immediately sent Mr ELG with BIT off to the corner store to buy the all important ingredient Violet Crumble. So minus the buttermilk but with fresh ricotta in the fridge and inspired by a bit of Bill Granger, I set out to make his ricotta hotcakes with the all important addition of the honeycomb butter.

Placing the Violet Crumble in a zip-lock bag, I bashed it with a rolling pin so small chunks of the chocolate bar formed and in my beloved Kitchenaid, I whizzed it all up with 100g of unsalted butter and two tablespoons of condensed milk for around two minutes until just combined.



Before cooking the pancake mixture I suddenly remembered that last week on a whim, I had bought a bit of a crazysexycool Herbies spice by the name of “Strawberry Gum” from Chef and the Cook. Looking more like it should be added to a curry rather than pancakes, the label tells me that the finely ground khaki powder comes from the leaves of a native Australian Eucalyptus tree and strangely has the flavour of berries. So sprinkling a teaspoon of the spice in and folding it through, it is not long before Mr ELG and I have a morning feast before us. Finished off with lashings of Canadian maple syrup, some big, fat, luscious strawberries and a huge dollop of the freshly whipped butter, there is a sudden silence at the table and two very satisfied tummies moments later. And yes, that is baby ELG’s tiny hand edging towards the hotcake. I did start him on solids this week and he’s obviously raring to go as rice cereal is just not cutting the mustard!

Bill Granger’s ricotta hotcakes

4 eggs – separated

3/4 cup milk

1 1/3 cup fresh ricotta

1 cup plain flour – sifted

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt


Combine 4 egg yolks, milk and ricotta together. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt together and add to ricotta mixture. Mix until just combined. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form and in two batches; fold into ricotta mixture. Add a tsp of Herbies “Strawberry Gum” spice. Heat a pan and swirl it with 25g of butter. Drop two tablespoons of mixture per pancake into pan and cook for a couple of minutes both sides until golden crispy edges have formed. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit and honeycomb butter. Enjoy!

Hats off to this one

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2009 and what a steaming hot Italian summer it was shaping out to be. The train was just pulling into Naples and Mr ELG and I had finally located our pensione and off-loaded the luggage. Feeling ravenous and with a few tips up our sleeves from the local who checked us in, we go on the hunt for a true Napoli pizza; arguably where it all started for the flat and round doughy phenomenon. Up a narrow alley where Fiats are squashed nose to nose on the pavement, there’s a hole in the wall and a waft of steamy goodness coming out. Six or so men with red aprons are milling around a kitchen as the day has not yet fully started. They hear our Aussie accents and between us, our pigeon Italian language, some pointing and the locals laughing their heads off, we somehow manage to order two large pizzas of which we know that at least cheese will be present. 10 minutes later and the two of us are perched on some neighbourhood stairs, pizza boxes on our laps, salivating no longer as the pizzas live up to all expectations and an eat moment is banked in my memories. I also recall thinking to myself, nowhere could come close to this at home. There’s pizza and then there’s pizza!


Enter Cappello. Situated on Darling Street, Balmain East – past all of the hype and hoopla of the main part of Darling Street. In a quaint sandstone terrace Cappello do a early and late seating; perfect for those that still want great food even though there’s a highchair in your booking and suitable for those duos who are after a bit of late dinner romance. Offering a small menu where each offering hits the spot, I can never go past the homemade tagliatelle ragu and Mr ELG nearly always orders the gnocchi with lashings of gorgonzola. Straying away from pasta, the pizza Cappello make fresh from their woodfired oven is the closest thing I have tried out of Naples. Thin yet still doughy in the middle, crisp with a variety of mouthwatering toppings. Taking the less is more slant in terms of ingredient combinations, you won’t find ham and pineapple here but more gutsy taste sensations where the biggest decision of the night will be “which one?”

If you make it past the pizza and pasta, the desserts will entice, be desired and and again make the choice hard! Not really much of a chocolate fan, Mr ELG seldom goes past Cappello’s chocolate mousse. As for me, the pavlova with poached pairs sitting in a reduced raspberry sauce sends shivers down my spine now as I hark back to when I went to Cappello last.

So while I’d love to own a lear jet and have a tree in the backyard that grows the green ones so I could just swing by Italy more than just once in a while – the reality is just 10 minutes drive away, I can satisfy my cravings born out of a hole in the wall in a back lane of Naples.

Cappello @ 79 Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2041

Wintry waffles and perfect pancakes

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After a glorious spate of sunshine in Sydney, we’re back to the last of the winter days  for 2011. As I look out the window and see slanted rain, cool wind and grey skies I can only think about warming my hands around a hot cup of tea and scoffing down a stack of buttermilk pancakes with crispy bacon on the side.


Mr ELG, baby ELG and I recently traveled down to the snow with my sister and her family. On any road trip that includes children, it’s hard not to bring all but the kitchen sink with you and to an observer witnessing us try to load on bag after bag onto the ski tube up to Perisher, I’m sure they would have been having the last laugh! Included in the loaded luggage was the only appliance (apart from the hairdryer) to make the trip – my brother-in-laws trusty waffle machine! As soon as I saw the Sunbeam invention, I started salivating over the thought of golden hot waffles drizzled with maple syrup, homemade hot chocolate sauce and scoops of vanilla ice-cream. As it was unpacked, he explained that he had had to resort to bringing a pancake bottle shake mix instead of carrying eggs up to make his usual creamy concoction.

We raised eyebrows together and this kick-started a conversation over the huge pros always outweighing the cons of the Betty Crocker/White Wings-style powder mixes. At the end of the conversation we both agreed that making your own waffle/pancake mixture from eggs, flour, milk and any other additions was the the #1 preference 100% of the time despite the convenience and ease of the so-called bottle mix on holidays and we were both eager to see how the waffle machine married up to this second-rate powder mix.

In answer to that, it didn’t. The waffles were a shadow of their usual self and the shake ‘n’ bake resulted in soggy smatterings of waffle slivers. And so once we were back in Sydney, my cravings were subsided by whipping up a batch of fluffy blueberry buttermilk pancakes doused with icing sugar and lashings of syrup. Meanwhile I heard that the waffle machine also made a welcome back appearance somewhere in an upper north shore home and we both vowed never again would we succumb to Betty Crocker. Now, where did I put that maple syrup…..?